Bette Hagman: from the Seattle Times 9/16

Bette Bush HAGMAN, a.k.a., The Gluten-Free Gourmet Age 85, passed away peacefully on August 17, 2007 at her home in Seattle with her daughter, Karol, by her side. Bette was diagnosed with celiac disease, an intolerance to wheat, barley and rye, when she was around the age of 50. From that point forward, she dedicated herself to improving the quality of life for celiac sufferers worldwide. She was a self-taught food scientist who revolutionized gluten-free cooking by developing a number of non-gluten flour blends that replace wheat flour and dramatically expand the number of tasty foods that celiacs could prepare. Bette was an author, a teacher of writing, and a lecturer, speaking throughout the United States and Canada. Bette authored six cookbooks as Bette Hagman, a.k.a., The Gluten-Free Gourmet, and was in the middle of writing her seventh book when she passed away. Bette was a member of, and very involved with, The Writers Guild, Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association, Puget Sound Sisters in Crime, and the Gluten Intolerance Group of North America for many years. The celiac community will dearly miss Bette for her energy and passion in helping to improve the lives of people with gluten intolerances through developing good tasting foods. Bette was born in Portland, Oregon, graduated from Estacadia High School at 16, and entered Linfield College, where she met Joe, her husband of 65 years. Bette spent her adult life in Seattle enjoying waterskiing, snowskiing, and golfing, as well as exploring the world on tours and cruises with her family and friends. She dearly loved the family vacation home on Stretch Island where the tranquil country setting invigorated the author in her and fostered her love of gardening. She is survived by her daughter, Karol, sister, Eva Jean, two step great-granddaughters, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws. A Celebration of her Life will be held on Sunday, October 21, 2007. If you wish to attend, please contact Gluten Intolerance Group of North America at 253 833-6655 or gig@gluten.net. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to American Celiac Disease Alliance, ACDA, (Please annotate on the check, “In memory of Bette Hagman.”) Mail to: ACDA, c/o Gluten Intolerance Group of America, 31214 124th Ave SE, Auburn, WA 98092.

8 comments on “Bette Hagman: from the Seattle Times 9/16”

Bette Hagman is my hero. I’ve been gluten-free for over two years now and I couldn’t have done it without her book Living Well Without Wheat. Every single recipe I’ve tried knocks the socks off of ALL of my friends, even those that can’t get enough gluten.

I thank Bette Hagman for dedicating her life to publishing her tried and true gluten-free recipes. Where would we be without her?

Hi. I’m new to the g.f. life, and I’m trying hard, using Bette’s book of course! I need to ask Someone about bread making … namely Bette’s g.f. French Bread. A local cafe has asked me to come up with a loaf they’d buy from me, and the one I make for my g.i. son tastes good but doesn’t rise enough. I use everything in her recipe but the potato flour – I could only get potato starch in the little place I live. Any ideas on how to make is rise more than the slightly under double I now get? Thanks Frances. Angelina

Frances, I have backed the Tapioca bread several times now and it always looks great in the oven but within minutes it totally flops in the centre and is too moist to be cooked. What am I doing wrong? I bake it for the full hour and leave it in the oven now for a full 30 minutes after the bake time but still it sinks in the centre.

What can I do to prevent this sinking? My elevation is 650 ft above sea level and I live in Hawaii. Anyone, please respond to my e-mail address in case I can’t find this location again on my computer. My e-mail address is: greentoes2@alohaservices.net

I just received Bette’ book as a Birthday Gift from my sister. I had no idea she was passing her recipes in heaven. I am trying out my first in her book today. Let’s see how it turns out! I wanted to try the Rusks but I need to know what I can substitute for 1/3 cup sweet rice flour?

Sweet rice flour (or mochi flour or,if you buy it in a Asian grocery store – it is called “glutinous rice flour”) is light and slightly sweet. You can substitute corn starch (not corn flour) the best. Potato starch (potato starch flour) as a substitute will make the item very dense and chewy. Some people use Amaranth – but I don’t have much experience to let you know what the texture change will be.